Scores of Casualties in Egypt Road Accidents 

A general view of El Fauquier (The Poor), a crash damaged vehicles and second-hand car shop, is pictured in Cairo, Egypt November 14, 2017. Reuters
A general view of El Fauquier (The Poor), a crash damaged vehicles and second-hand car shop, is pictured in Cairo, Egypt November 14, 2017. Reuters
TT

Scores of Casualties in Egypt Road Accidents 

A general view of El Fauquier (The Poor), a crash damaged vehicles and second-hand car shop, is pictured in Cairo, Egypt November 14, 2017. Reuters
A general view of El Fauquier (The Poor), a crash damaged vehicles and second-hand car shop, is pictured in Cairo, Egypt November 14, 2017. Reuters

Two accidents on Egypt's roads have killed at least 26 people in three days, authorities said.

A collision Saturday involving a minibus on a desert road 145 kilometers south of Cairo left 13 dead, the health ministry said.

The small bus crashed into a truck on the main road connecting the southern city of Beni Suef to Cairo, it said. All those killed were on the bus, which was carrying 17 people.

That came just days after a crash on the same road also claimed 13 lives.

Road accidents are common in Egypt due to badly maintained roads and poor enforcement of traffic laws.

The country's official statistics agency says 14,700 road accidents took place in 2016, leaving more than 5,000 people dead.

But authorities have moved to strengthen enforcement of traffic laws.



German, French FMs Meet Syria's New Rulers in Damascus

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (2-R) and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock (3-R) pose for a picture with Syrian rescuers known as the "White Helmets" as members of the security forces of Syria's new administration look on, inside the Saydnaya prison, north of Damascus on January 3, 2025. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (2-R) and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock (3-R) pose for a picture with Syrian rescuers known as the "White Helmets" as members of the security forces of Syria's new administration look on, inside the Saydnaya prison, north of Damascus on January 3, 2025. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
TT

German, French FMs Meet Syria's New Rulers in Damascus

France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (2-R) and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock (3-R) pose for a picture with Syrian rescuers known as the "White Helmets" as members of the security forces of Syria's new administration look on, inside the Saydnaya prison, north of Damascus on January 3, 2025. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)
France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot (2-R) and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock (3-R) pose for a picture with Syrian rescuers known as the "White Helmets" as members of the security forces of Syria's new administration look on, inside the Saydnaya prison, north of Damascus on January 3, 2025. (Photo by ANWAR AMRO / AFP)

The foreign ministers of Germany and France said they wanted to forge a new relationship with Syria and urged a peaceful transition as they met its de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa in Damascus on Friday on behalf of the European Union.
Germany's Annalena Baerbock and France's Jean-Noel Barrot are the first ministers from the EU to visit Syria since opposition fighters seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8 and forced President Bashar al-Assad to flee.
"My trip today...is a clear signal to the Syrians: A new political beginning between Europe and Syria, between Germany and Syria, is possible," Baerbock said before she left for Damascus.
Barrot expressed his hope "for a sovereign, stable and peaceful Syria" after arriving in Damascus, where he also visited the French embassy, which has been closed since 2012.
Barrot, who met with the Syrian staff who looked after the French embassy's closed facilities, said France would work towards re-establishing diplomatic representation in line with political and security conditions, diplomatic sources said.

Baerbock and Barrot visited Syria's Saydnaya prison, an emblem of abuses under Assad.

"Now it's up to the international community to help bring justice to the people who have suffered here in this prison of hell," Baerbock said.